Yamaha dx100 as first synth?

G

Goute

New member
Hi

It's a dream of mine to collect vintage synthesizers just like my idol P-thugg from Chromeo.
The last couple of weeks I've been frequently visiting 2nd hand stores, the internet,... in search for that first piece of the collection.
One of the synthesizers I would like to have eventually is the Yamaha dx-100 to combine with a talkbox later down the road.

I've found a pretty good deal on one of these in a shop nearby with the original box and manuals. However I'm not 100% sure if I should buy it. On the one hand I don't think I will find a deal like this anywhere soon, but on the other hand I don't have the appropriate gear to use it to it's fullest already. I haven't got a decent audio interface yet... Using one that came with mixvibes atm, in lack of a better one.
+ It will not really add anything to my productions just yet. It's something I 'want' rather than 'need'..

Is there any vintage synth-head who could help me decide? I'm such a doubter... lol

Cheers
Goute
 
Any experience with FM (or syntesizer programming in general, for that matter)? It can be pretty confusing to begin with, and the DX series user interfaces aren't exactly beginner-friendly (or friendly at all, even if you do know what you're doing...). It's an ok little FM synth, but I wouldn't pay very much for one - the prices this seems to be fetching on ebay ($250-350 or so) seem to be way too high, imo. I'd rather take a DX7 any day over this.
 
Yeah I know it's FM synthesis, and that it's not easy to program these kind of synths. I've only got experience with software synths so far (the ableton built-ins + sylenth1). The operator in ableton is an FM synth. I learnt the basics of frequency modulation synthesis from watching tutorials on youtube who explained it using the operator.
I know the dx7 is supposed to be better, but it's also more expensive. I don't want to spend that amount of money on a synth like this. The price on a dx100 is more or less within my budget for what I intend to use it.

If I spend anything over 300$ it's gonna be for a completely other synth (namely the korg mono/poly or the moog prodigy, so that will take a few months to save up for...)

Thanks for your advice though!
 
Are there rackmounts of these synths available ?
They might be cheaper than the keyboard version , but !!!! there is a good chance that the keyboards are really worn by now and probably have little if no playing life left in them .
The keyboards can be serviced (if you can get the parts) , all adds expense and time though .
 
If you see one local for less than $200 with original box and in good shape, jump on it, you won't find a better deal than that again.
 
The one I'm after has always been used in the studio, and the guy I would buy it from is it's first owner. + he's a guitarist so he only used the DX100 for backing tracks in his recordings.
I think I'm gonna go for it :D

Thanks for all the help!
 
Foggy said:
Are there rackmounts of these synths available ?
They might be cheaper than the keyboard version , but !!!! there is a good chance that the keyboards are really worn by now and probably have little if no playing life left in them .
The keyboards can be serviced (if you can get the parts) , all adds expense and time though .
Click to expand...

P-Thugg recommends the FB-01 as a cheap rack equivalent to the DX-100.
 
I've had the DX7, 9, and 100 which I still have.
The DX100 sounds harsher than the DX9 IMO but the set up is the same 4 operaters 8 Algorithms
The DX7 is 6 operaters and 32 algorithms a lot more complex. And better sounding too!
I've said this before the words "Welcome to DX" that are displayed on the screen at start up.
Really mean "HA HA HA You Mugg Best of luck Mate" not that easy to program compared to say a Juno but a lot more simple than VAST. I don't use mine anymore and am waiting for the opertune moment to sell. I would only be intersted if I were a Toy Collector.
FWIW IMHO Native Instruments FM7 nails the DX series and then some I can import all my old patches from the 9,7,and 100 through SYSx. Unlike VA plugins the DX is CPU based software in the digital domain it lives very nicely inside a DAW with a good audio card you'll be hard pushed to tell the difference
 
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